Posts Tagged ‘unilateral’

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to discuss additional unilateral sanctions being proposed by the US.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that Turkey would consider the proposed sanctions, but “does not feel it is bound by any other sanctions” than those of the UN. Turkey, one of the biggest importers of iranian oil, also opposed the last round of UN measures against Iran.

Burns’ visit came soon after Davutoğlu’s return from Tehran, where he discussed the nuclear standoff, and offered to host the next nuclear talks in Turkey.

Iran has the capability to produce an atomic bomb within a year, according to US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in an interview on CBS News Monday night.

Panetta told CBS News anchor Scott Pelley that Iran could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year – and that is in the event that Iran does not have a hidden facility enriching fuel already.

The US will “deal with” an Iranian weapon, with “whatever steps [are] necessary to stop it” if need be, said Panetta. “That’s a red line for us and that’s a red line, obviously, for the Israelis, he said. “There are no options off the table,” he added.

Speaking at Washinton’s Saban Center for the Middle East on December 2, Panetta said Israel should not take unilateral action against Iran, saying that any military option should be a last resort, and taken in coordination with the United States.

To that, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded that “Israel is responsible for its security, its future and its existence,” and would not “wait and say ‘we will see if they have a bomb and then we will act’.” He emphasized that “no option should be taken off the table”.